Hayfield Secondary’s football team defeated Edison in the first round of the playoffs Thursday night, 75-7, less than a week after a judge ruled they could play in the postseason.
Under first-year coach Darryl Overton, the Fairfax County school had been accused of improperly recruiting at least a dozen players from other schools. The Virginia High School League issued a two-year postseason ban, saying the Alexandria football team violated league rules.
But on Friday, a judge allowed the team back into the playoffs, frustrating other playoff-bound schools whose first-round games had already been set.
“All I could say is, ‘God bless the judge,’” said Hamdael Omar, whose nephew is on Hayfield’s team. “Nobody in this world could take away how hard these kids work. We’ve been here offseason, during season, and now we’re in the playoffs.”
But Maisi Julian, whose son plays on Edison’s team, felt differently. Hayfield, she said, is using “this county and these games to pad their players’ scores and statistics.”
“Anybody who takes five or 10 minutes to look into it can see that there’s discrepancies and unfairness that’s happened,” Julian said.
After the allegations surfaced, FCPS Superintendent Michelle Reid launched an independent investigation. Overton, who previously coached at Freedom High School in Woodbridge, had been accused of recruiting many of his former players to transfer to Hayfield.
In August, Reid said the school division’s review didn’t find any evidence of wrongdoing.
So, with its roster cleared, the team progressed through the regular season. But then, the VHSL issued the postseason ban, which the judge then reversed.
One woman, who identified herself as the aunt of a Hayfield player, said Overton’s success has been looked at negatively.
“This is what they love to do, and they’ve been doing a good job, and then they’re told they can’t, and then they can again, and then they can’t again,” she said. “So it’s just been very distracting.”
Earlier this week, six Fairfax County football coaches sent a letter to Reid, threatening to boycott the postseason if Hayfield is allowed to participate. Those coaches met with her, and in the aftermath of that meeting, Reid vowed to conduct an external investigation of all student athlete transfers and review athletic protocols.
Rick Perry, who attended Thursday night’s game, said, “Hopefully everything will get resolved. The truth will come out, if it’s not out already.”
The next court date in the Hayfield case is scheduled for next month.
In a statement, an FCPS spokesperson told WTOP:
“Mr. Fritts has been the Director of Student Activities at Hayfield Secondary School since the start of the 2023-24 school year and continues to serve in that role.”
“At his request, we can share that last week Mr. Fritts submitted a request for a leave of absence in order to join his family in an opportunity overseas. That request is being reviewed as part of our normal, defined leave of absence process which supports our employees in family circumstances such as this.”
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2024 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
